Pillars and the Bamboo

練拳無樁步，房屋無立柱

Training boxing without the pillar steps, a house without stud.

練拳不溜腿，終究冒失鬼

Training boxing without kicking¹, this is imprudent after all.

要知拳精髓，首由站樁起

To know the quintessence of boxing, it starts from standing the pillars.

壓而不溜不中用，溜而不壓笨如牛

Pressing but not smoothing² is useless, smoothing but not pressing stupid as a bull.

練功不站樁，等於瞎晃蕩

Training skills without standing the pillars, it is as rocking aimlessly

拳以椿爲根，椿以拳顯神

Boxing has the pillars for roots, the pillars have boxing to manifest the spirit.

For a lot of martists and Qigong aficionados, 站樁 means holding a stance, often as long as possible. This is actually more an interpretation than a real translation, 站, meaning to stand (on one’s feet) or to halt as far as training is concerned, and 樁 pillar or stud. Hence, holding a posture is surely only one of the numerous training 站樁 refers to. Furthermore, this practice is often confused with rooting² while it is actually, first of all, balance which is sought.

Bamboo

武藝不學不通，雜技不練不精

Martial art skills cannot be understood if not studied, acrobatics are not outstanding if not practised.

勢如破竹

A posture totally like a bamboo¹.

Though a new realm, bamboo naturally follows what was achieved in the locks, starting to learn how to tense the whole body through fascias and muscle relaxation. Therefore, where one had to soften one’s body in straight and round, bamboo is all about hardening it, nonetheless by means of relaxation. Still, bamboo training is also finding means to enhance the spine flexibility as well as to reach deeper fascia webs. Finally, such training deals with ways to improve one’s grip and the flow of vapours.

Aligned Or Connected?

三节不明,浑身是空

When the three sections are not understood,the whole body is empty.

The three sections points to the upper, middle and down parts of the body.

Finding Bamboo, Iron and Cotton

筋是功能之本，骸是功能之基，氣是功能之源

Fascias are the origin of capability, the skeleton its foundation, vapours its source.

筋骨之強弱，肌肉之堅脆，皮膚之厚薄，腠理之疏密，各不同

The sturdiness of the bones and the fascias, the firmness of the flesh, the thickness of the skin, the density of the lineaments, are each not alike¹.

Before starting with the Bamboo training, one has to realise where this new realm of training comes from. Being an oral tradition, there are still a lot of training in Chinese martial arts which haven’t been put into writing or systematised. Furthermore, with the decline of such old practices, a lot has been lost, including independent practices, such as animal walks, which disappeared and spread out, becoming a particular training in different styles. Bamboo, Iron and Cotton, BIC, wasn’t an independent practice, just some training for already transformed bodies.

Posture With A Little Push

A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind¹.

把勢、把勢，全憑架式

Skill, bluster, it is all a question of posture².

理是功能之本，法是功能之機

Structure is the essence of capacity, method its crucial point².

Posture used to be one of the cornerstones of internal practices. It served many purposes, but deep body transformation and breathing training were amongst the most important. Nowadays, postures are limited, both in their range and diversity.

Bamboo, Iron And Cotton, A New Realm

一层功，一层理

One level of skill, one level of intrinsic order¹.

古者謂是采真之遊

This is what the ancients called plucking the genuine wanderings².

Old practices were about constantly evolving, which meant changes, which meant to sometimes reach something totally new with very different rules or principles to be followed.

Happy Foot

打拳容易走步難

Boxing is easy, stepping is hard

步不活則拳亂，步不快則拳慢

Boxing becomes messy when one does not step lively, slow when one does not step fast

One who has studied long enough old practices may have heard about a story or two describing the importance ageing masters paid to step. A typical one is probably the student being finally granted to see his master’s training only to end up walking hours with him. Beyond this type of story lies, for the least, two principles, “to each his/her training” and “feet go first”.

Changing Doors

One of the eldest texts known describing the martial arts theory is called "The Lady of Yue Talks About Fencing", a passage from the historical records called "Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue" written by Zhao Ye (?-around 83 A.C.). Later literary works inspired by this lady fencer figure, such as the one of the famous Hong-Kong writer Jin Yong called "Sword of the Yue Maiden" has made this passage quite famous, more than the one about archery that follows a few paragraphs later. Indeed, introducing a lady fencer in a male chauvinistic society which forbade teaching girls because they would marry into another family and having her teacher being an ape, a white gibbon, cannot but struck one's imagination.

Style

把勢、把勢，全憑架式。没有架式，不算把勢

Martial arts, martial arts, it is all a question of posture. No posture, no real training.

把勢 is an old way to say training martial arts.

Going Deep, Flying High

練重使輕

Training heavy, using light

練低使高*

Training low, using high

輕則靈敏，重則穩健**

Light then agile and quick-witted, heavy then stable and steady

逍遙遊***

Enjoyment in untroubled ease

While fighting with sharp blades, speed seems to be a major issue, and the lighter the faster. Regardless of the needs of specialised professions, It would seem then natural to train high postures for faster mobility and lightness to be swifter. Still, training the body to become faster and moving fast are actually two different things, and especially when both speed and strength are coming from the connective tissues elasticity.